And solon dike



1?. W. -BAO0N-& s. DIKE, SOL-E PLATE FOR. BOOTS OR SHOES.

No. 43,469. Patented July 12, 1864.

' I I C/ UNITED STATES Y PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS W. BACON, or J RSEY c1rY,nEw JERSEY, AND SOLON DlKE, or

NEW YORK, n. Y.

METALLIC SOLE-PLATE FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,5169, dated July 12, 1864.

To aZZ whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that we, FRANCIS W. BACON, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudsonand State of New Jersey, and SOLON DIKE, of the city, county, and State of'New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Boots and Shoes; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilledin the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in

- which-- for the soles and counters of boots and shoes,

the same being designed for the prevention of the breaking down of the shank of the sole andfor retaining the whole of the sole in aproper relative position with the boot or:

shoe, and at the same time preventing the counter from running over toward one side.

Metallic shanks and plates have been heretofore invented for the purpose above speci lied; but they have been constructed in an:

expensive'manner, requiring either to be forged by hand or to berolled in proper form by expensive machinery. This expense in constructing the plates and shanks hitherto devised is due to the hnequal thickness of the' plate and shank, the latter requiring to be sufficiently thick and stifi to prevent the sole under the-instep from breaking down, while the plate extending from the shank to the ball of the foot requires to be thinner and sufficiently elastic to yield or spring under the movement of the foot. By our improvement'we obtain these results and still'have the shank and plate as well as the heel-piece of an equal thickness throughout, so that they all may be cut at one operation, and swaged in proper form out of i a plate of steel, no hand-work or after-inanipulation whatever being required.

A represents the shank; B, the plate which extends from the shank to the ball or' broad part of the sole of the boot or shoe; and U is the heel-piece.

The above parts are -llin one piece and are cut out of a piece of sheet-steel of uniform thickness and swaged in proper form at a single operation. l

The sheet-steel, it will be understood, may be purchased of the requisite thickness, so that no extra expense will attend the obtaining of the proper stock, as they are manufactured or rolled into plates of variousthicknesses. The steel is sufficiently thin to admit of the plate B having the requisite degree of elasticity to yield or. give to the motions of the foot, and the shank A, which is of the same thickness as B. would, it" due provision were not made against such a contingency, bend or break down. This we avoid by having the shank Acorrugated,as shown at c, which may be done at the same time the parts are cut out and swaged. These corrugations, of which there may be any number, have a longitudinal position'with the shank and extend the whole length of the same. (See more particularly Fig. 1.) piece or counter G-is a flange or rim turned up around the edge of the heel. The central part is cut away, asrepresented in Fig. 1,'to allow the insole and outsole to be firmly attached in the ordinary manner. The heelpiece 0 is designed to aid-in retaining the shank in proper position, and also to prevent the counter of theboot or shoe from running or falling over at the side. shank A and plate B is provided with several perforations, I) b, by means of which it is securclyvfast'ened to the insole in such a way that it cannot be moved sidewise or out of position in any direction. Thus it will be seen that by this simple improvement we can manufacture theplate and shank at a comparatively small cost, no forgin g, rolling, or manipulation of any kind being .requirc d to give the requisitestiffness to the shank and elasticity to the plate. The parts,

after beingcut outand swaged'in proper form,

are properly tempered, and the device is ready for use, and we would remark that in consequence of having the parts of an equal thickness they may be more perfectly temperedthau hitherto, as the parts, when of an an- The heel- I The edge of the i rather too hard or too soft, breaking", iu the with a cotintef turned up around .the heel at any desirable height and all from the same piece of metal, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

' v F. W. BACON. SOI JON DIKE. Witnesses: v

JAMES P. HALL,

.M. M. LIVINGSLON.. 

